User blog:The Six-Fingered One/The Psycho Series -- and My Thoughts On It
I have been watching the Psycho Series since a few days after "Psycho Kid Gets Arrested" premiered, and thus have been watching his channel for over a year, now. The first video I saw was "Psycho Dad Raids Stream", as I was looking through stream prank videos on YouTube that day, and happened to see that attention-grabbing title. Upon watching it, I thought it was real -- who would immediately doubt it as fake, unless they are naturally a skeptic? However, upon watching the other Psycho videos prior to it (and eventually catching up to "Psycho Kid Gets Arrested"), I was definitely fuzzy on it being real. Upon investigating information on the series and reviewing points for it being real and fake, I eventually came to the conclusion that it was definitely fake, and nothing has yet to change my mind. For the first week or so of knowing what McJuggerNuggets was, I did not give the vlogs a chance. I eventually began watching them as I waited for new psycho videos, and became invested in the strange and unique life of Jesse Ridgway (the character). It wasn't until the latter half of 2015 (September, October, etc.) that I really began to pick up on the more sophisticated writing that Jesse was doing for the Psycho Series' script. The prank wars between Jesse and Jeffrey (which had origins from Jesse's Survival Series story arc, and later from Jeffrey being excluded from Larry's trip) were building a realistic tension between the two brothers -- which erupted into a climax in "Psycho Brother Stomps Glasses". This particular Psycho Video is, in my opinion, the fulcrum of the entire series' plot, as it caused a chain of events to occur. It created a web of lies that Jesse would soon become entangled in. It brought forth immense character development in Jeffrey, turning a rather malevolent, antagonistic character into a caring big brother. When Jesse's lies became exposed, it permanently scarred the Ridgway Family, creating a schism between Terry and Psycho Dad. As an effect from the above, Psycho Dad became more psychotic, and Terry became a real bitch. Jesse also began to descend into a new form of crazy for him. Through November until January, we saw these events unfold in a clear and natural way. A new character was even introduced during this time -- Aunt Melissa. A MAJOR plot device used throughout the latter half of the Psycho Series was the whiteboard, which first became important when Psycho Dad wrote "I'm a psychopath", referring to what Terry called him before she left. Jesse never erased those words from the board (he half-admitted its importance, claiming it serves to remind him of the time his father took responsibility for something). I will mention the whiteboard later on, as it is very important, in my opinion. Upon watching Jesse's old series, The G.A.M.E., I realized just how talented Jesse was at writing highly sophisticated and contrived plots (that series EVEN used time travel and it came off as very professional) (I definitely recommend anyone who hasn't seen it do so; you can find it on his channel at anytime). The "Odd Jobs" story arc was not particularly entertaining in my opinion, but when he was forced onto the Farm, things became interesting once more. Uncle Chris, who at first seemed like a more physically violent, obese Psycho Dad was introduced. Along with him were the two kind ladies Anita and Nancy. The Farm acted as an area that beat Jesse down in the beginning, causing him to seemingly become unenthused about gaming, streaming, and videos -- but Larry's words eventually made peace within him, and he quit his job. Uncle Chris eventually revealed himself to be a much kinder -- and rather tsundere -- character, after he allowed Jesse to keep $2500 from a $7500 check to pay for damages his nephew made whilst on work elsewhere (Warrior's nursery) (wow that's a juxtaposition). Besides allowing for the plot and Jesse's character to develop here, it also allowed Corn's persona to face conflict with Uncle Chris. Psycho Dad eventually found out about Jesse quitting, and destroyed Jesse's gaming room in retaliation. The neat thing besides this is that the gaming room was featured in a miniature construction story arc, and had since become a permanent area on the Ridgway Residence. However, many viewers (myself, included) predicted its destruction. "Psycho Dad Demolishes Gaming Room" also depicts Psycho Dad's further transition into a more psychotic and harsh individual. It also rose the stakes for the Psycho Series, and initiated an inclination of intensity that is still occurring as of May 31st, 2016. Jesse then runs away, along with the head of Emma, the Face of Damien (which had been on the wall of his gaming room), his clothes, his sword, and a stolen gun from Psycho Dad's box (which had been debuted earlier). He takes refuge in Larry's RV, which becomes a returning location (as he use to live in it for a little while last year; it was also used as Terry's place of shelter before she moved into Melissa's house). Being ignorant, Jesse parked the RV on the Stahlberger's property -- which eventually brought back to little-seen Melissa character. Melissa called in Psycho Dad, who DESTROYED the RV. Prior to this, this was unseen in the Psycho Series. Never has something so expensive and impactful been destroyed. The RV would have been moved sooner, too, but Larry's truck had broken brakes. Upon Larry discovering the destruction of his trailer, his character went through an abrupt change -- and he symbolically took off his hat, as he became set on perpetual anger and malice. The authoritarian Psycho Dad then forced Jesse back home, after a physical confrontation between him and Larry. Jesse was now in an extremely toxic environment, as Jeffrey had just moved out, and he was alone with Psycho Dad. Over the course of the next week, Jesse would all of the stuff in his room, save for his clothes and bed. The reason for this was Jesse visiting his girlfriend; such an act was banned by Psycho Dad, as he wanted Jesse's relationship to end with her. This is when the whiteboard comes back into play: When Jesse returned to his room to find all his things gone, the whiteboard had new writing on it from Psycho Dad: "You should've listened..." Coincidentally, these words were above "I'm a psychopath". Together they say "You should've listened... I'm a psychopath." This is an amazing plot device, as it enforces the change in Psycho Dad's personality, and would eventually lampshade and echo the words of all of Jesse's peers (Uncle Chris, Corn, Buzz, Anita and Nancy, Mark, Jeffrey, and even his own mother) to get out of the house immediately. During this entire time, Jesse had been talking with his "new friend" Demma -- a combination of Damien and Emma; this was utilized as a way to reflect Jesse's growing craziness, and to possibly show the effect that his divided family had on him -- forcing him into extreme mental loneliness (despite having Corn always with him). The real game changer, however, was "Psycho Uncle Impacts Pool". Being true to the ever-increasing intensity of the Ridgway Situation (which had at this point become the Ridgway-Abraham Situation), Uncle Larry accelerates his truck (which had been foreshadowed as having no brakes about a week previously) toward Psycho Dad, who is tending the pool. However, Jeff, Sr. sprints away from the oncoming vehicle, and Larry crashes into the pool, effectively flooding the Ridgway's backyard and giving himself a neck injury. It was confirmed that he was attempting to murder Psycho Dad in "WHAT I COULDN'T DO..." A Psycho vlog, "Psycho Dad Watches McJuggerNuggets" depicted Jesse's situation becoming even worse, as Psycho Dad limits Jesse's recording into the "new RiDGiD Studios", which was the closet that Jesse use to store fanmail in. This, in my opinion, is also a great plot device. It shows an area that Jesse once used as an extension of the positivity of his videos being repurposed to imprison him and ruin his enjoyment of his own passion. This was made even more clear when Psycho Dad added a lock to the door, using (from what Jesse said) the door knob from the gaming room's door. This has since furthered Jesse's descension into madness. As of now, the safe story arc has come back into play -- after a several month digression. This is further proof of how intricate and sophisticated the Psycho Series' plot is. Some other things about the Psycho Series: The gun that Jesse stole from Psycho Dad has yet to come back into play. I hope it does come back into play before the Psycho Series ends. Also, throughout the vlogs since Jesse and Corn saw Psycho Dad grab a gun from the safe in security footage, it has been constantly hinted at that Psycho Dad had another hobby or job a long time ago. By the context of which it is referred, it almost seems like they are making him out to be a former hitman, agent, cop, detective, or something akin to this. They even referred to this mystery occupation when Jesse commented on Psycho Dad "trying to relive his glory days" when he put a tracker on Jesse's car. I just wanted to write this as a way of voicing my opinion on the Psycho Series, and what I have noticed when watching it. I love this series immensely, and having but respect for all Jesse and his family have done to make it entertaining and well-made. Category:Blog posts